I’ve had tons of topics to post lately but I keep coming back to Ank Rouge. Some fall trends I want to talk about, summer tips, Disney Tokyo survival guide, more vintage, some skincare reviews, some make-up reviews. But I keep going to back to want to talk about Ank Rouge, since this blog started as a trend blog and it’s still my interest.

Some Ank Rouge History and Okarie distancing

Ank Rouge started in 2010 by Popteen model Rie Matsuoka, aka Okarie (松岡里枝 croozblog, insta) . She has helping with the design and look of the brand under the title “Creative Director” and in the beginning Ank was Okarie and Okarie wore Ank. She may have been the Creative Director but she was also the image model aka the face of Ank Rouge.

Since 2015 there’s been quite a distancing of Okarie’s tastes and Ank Rouge and now Ank Rouge is a different animal. Okarie is now very Seiso/Otona Kawaii and prefers magazines such as Bijin Hakka and Sweet. Ank Rouge is now very street Larme. I’m going to show the new collection first, some old images and also some thoughts on the new Ank Rouge look.

Ank Rouge new style “Innocent Black” for Fall 2016

For the Fall Ank Rouge now has two new image models: Vivi main model Emma Jasmine(瑛茉ジャスミン insta) and Larme model Nana Katou (加藤ナナ insta)

Their theme for this collection is Innocent Black. The main concept for the collection is girly and monotone looks. It’s not just sweet but coquetteish feeling. A street and girly mix giving a casual and playful atmosphere. Using black at least twice is the center of this look. <- their words translated

I wish they showed off the clothes better but when they’re making such a dramatic change I guess lighting was needed to carry this new Ank Rouge.

In the past I’ve always seen Ank Rouge as a more tailored Liz Lisa or sometimes just a Liz Lisa knock off. Now it seems they’ve gone full Larme and if anything gotten edgey and appear very inspired by One*Spo.

Ank Rouge of Old

If you’re not familiar with old Ank Rouge here you go:

Ank from 2012:

Ank from 2014(?):

Ank from 2015:

It’s obvious they were slow moving from Liz Lisa to Seiso and Larme, but this Street is a brand new thing for Ank.

Fall Collection Innocent Black worn by Shop Staff

You know this blog. The photoset of a collection is well and good but how are everyday girls wearing this? Specifically for this the Ank shop staff.

Well Ank Rouge has really stuck to the Street Larme profile with its shop staff. Some are still trying to bring the old Ank Rouge in combination, but it’s mostly Street Larme.

Trends to note for Fall 2016

Ank has shown off several trends to talk about for 2016. These are mostly Larme trends with a few trends heading into all fashion. All Fashion trends marked with a heart

Slip Dresses ♥

Chokers especially Ribbon chokers ♥

Collar details

Sukajans done different ways ♥

Robe-tie jackets ♥

Velvet ♥

Lace dresses ♥

“Dad” caps

Baby pink x black x white

Final Notes

Although Ank Rouge has been talking up all these Street Larme looks. This set-up is their current Fall top seller. A more traditional Ank look.

Ank is part of a larger clothing group the Ailand group featuring Cecil McBee and Be Radiance. None really known for their prints, but I feel this print done in skirt and onepiece style is really worth noting. It reminds me of classic Jesus Diamanate and MA*RS prints but of a better quality than current MA*RS. My old style readers should pay notice to this cute print

Is this change bad? Good? It’s for the chirruns!

I’ve been talking about the differences, but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad change in Ank Rouge. Lately there’s so much grown up fashion dominating Shibuya 109 brands. The Onee-gyaru and basics boom has taken over so many brands. It feels like there’s quite a pressure to grow up. I’m glad there’s a bit more youthful style in Ank Rouge. However I can’t see this winning over longtime Ank fans so I guess we’ll see how next season looks?

Long time no blog? Yup

Everytime I post here lately I feel like I have to apologize for being slow. Blame Disney, Olympics and Pokemon Go this time. Really though it’s my aging computer and the problems that causes. If only I didn’t have to use my laptop to blog, but editing photos is necessary. Next year though! New computer! Hopefully I can afford it! Currently though I have some trips to take and trips are fun new computers are just new computers

In the meantime I’m currently doing a 10 day Japanese and Korean face mask review on Snapchat. If you want to see some shaky camerawork, me looking dumb in masks, and my derp voice you’ve got it (yay?). If not you can wait for the full monty to go on the blog later.

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Shibuya 109 but Collabo Mignon is interesting enough to get back and it means PURIKURA IN SHIBUYA 109. Shibuya 109 which I used to think of as the Tower of Power has really lost its hold as the main mall (as I blogged about here in the Fall of Gyaru post). However I think the Collabo Mignon store is a really cool idea and there’s one more store (BAD Store) to talk about below.

Collabo Mignon Purikura in Shibuya 109

Collabo Mignon (コラボミニョン) is from the Purikura chain Girls Mignon. They’re all across Japan from Niigata to Nagoya to Nagano. The Shibuya 109 store will be their first Tokyo store. First of all this finally means PURIKURA IN SHIBUYA 109! It’s about damn time!!!

It opens March 12th.

Nicole Fujita aka Nikorun: Popteen’s newest Queen

Their first collaboration will be with Nicole Fujita. Nicole Fujita (藤田ニコル nicknamed Nikochu にこちゅう or Nikorun にこるん blogtwitter) is currently the face of Popteen and her fame is rising. Even though she just turned 18, she’s also got a very big variety tv show gig, you’ll often see her on group panels. She’s half. Her father is Russian and Polish and her mother is Japanese. Nikorun started modeling for Nicola in 2009 after passing a heavily contested model audition. She modeled for Nicola from 2009 to 2014 as a senzoku (専属) or paid exclusive model. In 2014 she moved over to Popteen as their senzoku model and has graced a ton of covers.

She’s got a divisive personality. With people thinking she’s cute or dumb. Nicole Fujita often says some ditzy things, but her fans think she’s just being playful. She pretty much makes news everyday on modelspress. She just graduated from a high school for talent that requires only a few classes a week.

I’m a fan because she’s got such cute cheeks. I love full cheeks. I’m simple.

This is how the purikura collab with Nicole Fujita works. I don’t know if it’s cute or creepy that you get to pose with Nikochu. Get your stalker shot with Nikochu March 12th to April 15th then it will be a new person or character.

New Neogal BAD Store

DJ Amo lived in Hawaii for 6 years and got into DJing there. She started to DJ in Japan in 2011. In 2013 she became a regular to DJ at Club KT in Shibuya 109 (Now the Sanrio Vivitix store). DJ Amo was in the #N Neogal magazine, you can find her in the scans.

BAD STORE Spring Summer Looks

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Some basics but I do want the Audrey sweat. Although this is a Spring/Summer collection there’s a lot of sweatshirts and heavy things. This feels more street influenced than Fig & Viper and should get a lot of different types to purchase. It also reminds me a little of Ora Ora style.

Here’s the video for their Spring Summer collection

With Fig & Viper quietly shutting stores, they’re down to only three, no thanks in part to Alisa Ueno not really repping it as much and a few weak collections. I do wonder how much of the Neogal movement is still firing. Although I think BAD Store by DJ Amo seems to be a more street style store and wearable for a lot of styles.

Honey Cinnamon has won the revamped Shibuya 109 stage contest and will soon open in Shibuya 109. Shibuya 109 every year used to do stages and for a while they created mega brands such as Gilfy, Sly and Delyle and to a lesser extent Marple Q and such (link, link).

Honey Cinnamon (ハニーシナモン website: http://honeycinnamon.jp/) is produced by current Larme model and former SKE48 member Kanako Hiramatsu (平松可奈子). The brand is under the x-9 design lab company (エックスナインデザインラボ ) which until Honey Cinnamon had produced graphic design and styling for brands such as Ingni and Murua. X-design lab is a small company with only 20 members mostly women. This is their first official brand.

Shibuya 109 Stage – Modern style

Old stage style: Previously Tokyu Group (which owns Shibuya 109) would choose 5 brands based on their designs and let them stay in Shibuya 109 on a trial basis. Usually retailers in Japan have to buy rent space for a year in advance, so this was a sweet deal. The best one stayed and became a permanent Shibuya 109 store.

New stage style:

After submitted applications, five to ten shops are picked to go to the Shibuya 109 net shop. In this case six were. While in the net shop Shibuya 109 promised to promote the six brands and the shop with the best sales was picked to win the stage. The winner receives a space in Shibuya 109.

The six chosen net shops had to pay 10,000 yen a month to be in the system and royalties to Shibuya 109 for hosting their clothing. A bit steep but interesting.

In the mix were three basic “NY/Casual/LA” buzzword stores named Fitting Room Tokyo, Catz and Mile 6737. A store with a Harajuku flavor and interesting “Punyus” style prints called Kobinai. Along with Kurogyaru gal unit Black Diamond produced clothing Galeo (still on sale btw). And Larme influenced Honey Cinnamon the final winner of the stage.

Honey Cinnamon Spring 2015 Exhibition

It’s safe to say Larme-kei won the Shibuya 109 stage because Honey Cinnamon is very Larme styled. In terms of other brands it looks halfway between Fint / Ank Rouge and Swankiss. They recently held an exhibition for their Spring 2015 style and the brand has a lot of Larme trends in the looks.

Spring 2015 catalog looks

Lots of cute looks. Personal favorites are the gingham knee-length skirt, the ruffle denim suspender skirt, and the knit bustiers.

A bit sad on how basic the shoes are and the overall lack of details on some items. I feel Larme taste is buying something for either the a) color b) cut or c) details since it’s not a very print based look. I don’t think they’re selling pairs of shoes but it’s a bit… simple. A styling pickle along with the white shoes white socks combination and white stockings white heels. Eeps!

Ingni is a giant Japanese women’s clothing brand I haven’t talked about much except for a previous shop staff snap. Ingni is such a wildly popular clothing brand it has stores in even the smallest of Japanese towns. In big cities you can see an Ingni from another one almost. They have a giant store on the first floor of Shibuya 109 and one barely a block away on Shibuya Center-gai. I’m sure when I head back to Japan they’ll have put another 15 Ingnis in.

So after ignoring the brand here’s a little history and talk about them plus a cute shop staff snap I took from Ikebukuro Sunshine City.

Ingni info:

katakana: イング

pronounced: “in-gu”… I have no idea how gni became gu but there it is

naming reason: The name is derived from the english ending “-ing” to mean always in flux.

stores: 100+ all in Japan, over 40 in Tokyo area. Chances are if you’re in a mall, you’ll find an Ingni.

history: Ingni first started in 1982 as a wholesale company selling Kobe fashion, which was a big boom in the 80s-90s. In 1998 they started their own self-named brand Ingni which was more of a CanCam brand at the time. Now Ingni sells to all types and is featured in Popteen, Vivi, Cutie and more.

parent company: It is now owned by Mitsumaru which is the clothing arm of Tokyu, who owns Shibuya 109 along with brands Heaven and Earth.

sister brands: Ingni First, Allamanda

style: the style is trend sweet casual. It’s considered a sweet discount brand for younger women.

discount brand or trend maker?: Ingni has stayed very popular for their price point as much as their style. Usually Ingni is 1,000 yen cheaper than similar brands yet they do often have original designs and produce collections like the trend brands.

Ingni in Ikebukuro Sunshine City

Ikebukuro Sunshine City is a meandering above and underground mall that is near the famed yaoi manga haven, Otome Road. Ingni has a large shop closer to the Tokyu Hands underground entrance from Sunshine Road and was staffed by a lovely shop staff with classic Ingni style.

Classic cute date style. She’s actually wearing the same jacket of the Okayama shop staff I took previously even though it was 6 months in between snaps.

She’s holding up the tunic I bought. It’s really comfortable and hasn’t lost or rusted any of the gold studs on it. Very nice quality. Aren’t her denim wedges so cute? I don’t think I’d consider them for myself but she wears them so cutely that I wonder now.

Soft casual make-up. Circle lens are popular for everyone now that you can get them without a prescription.

I really liked her soft casual ponytail and daisy earrings. She’s wearing a lot of accessories but they work really well to dress up a simple outfit.

I also like how she’s doing the simple touches to make an outfit more eyecatching. The casual way the jacket sleeves are rolled up, the daisies on her shoes, the socks that match her onepiece. All these style points that help make a look.

Once their Fall collection comes out I’ll talk more about the mega popular brand that’s always goING!

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Universal-Doll is mainly about Japanese gyaru fashion including Japanese cosmetics reviews, hair trends, nail art, and Japanese clothing brands. Also travel photos and stories from all around Japan and various other parts of the world.